Educational Service Providers - Provider Detail

The information provided regarding Educational Service Providers is provided for information only. The Colorado Department of Education does not endorse, represent or warrant the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content, services or other materials provided by these educational service providers. Any reliance upon any information, content, materials, products, services or vendors included on or found through this listing shall be at the user's sole risk.

Name of Schools/ Districts that this organization has served in Colorado:

EdisonLearning has had 80 partnerships in the state since 1996 when we began partnering with school districts and the Colorado Department of Education. Of the current school and district partnerships below, 19 are school improvement or turnaround initiatives (our Alliance model). The school names, locations, grade level and product offerings are:

Through its history in Colorado, EdisonLearning has made an impact. In 2008, Commissioner Dwight Jones announced a new initiative aimed at closing the achievement gap in school districts across the state. The Colorado Department of Education initiated a process for districts to select a comprehensive provider of turnaround services from a state-approved list. Having been approved by the state after rigorous review, EdisonLearning was able to raise student achievement, as evidenced in the success of Yuma Middle School. In the fall of that year, Yuma Middle School engaged EdisonLearning to be a partner in a multi-year reform effort.

Prior to its partnership with EdisonLearning, the school posted results of 55.8% proficient or above in Reading, and 37.5% proficient or above in Math. Recently (through the end of the 2010-11 school year), the school posted reading and math achievement of 65.5% and 61.5% proficient or above, respectively. These represent cumulative gains of 10 points in Reading and 24 points in Math at the conclusion of the third academic year of the partnership.

EdisonLearning measures our school partnership performance against the Proficient and Above metric based upon our commitment to universal proficiency as the minimum achievement requirement for all students.

Please contact the individuals above for more information on these schools.

This client may be approached to speak to the high-quality of our customer service and support. CAIU initially purchased Math and English courses to use as a summer program in 2009. Since its inception, the CAIU online program has experienced tremendous growth and now provides services to over 20 school districts in Pennsylvania. Today, CAIU purchases many other courses for their member school districts that serve a broad spectrum of online program needs – and even runs its own full time virtual school powered by EdisonLearning eCourses.

This client may be approached to speak to our ability to our turn around and build school leadership site capacity building, as this was one of the services rendered as part of our Alliance turnaround model. As the principal has noted, EdisonLearning has provided support for school instructional activities, which has resulted in a "rich educational environment".

This school is an example of our success in combining our educational tools with a solid leadership team to improve student performance for a population with socioeconomic and linguistic challenges. The demographics of the school's student body are: 80.62% Asian and 75.60% FRL. The school has made AYP each year since its partnership with EdisonLearning.

Name of Schools/ Districts that this organization has served in other states:

Over the course of nearly 20 years, EdisonLearning has educated more than one million students, and currently serves partners with more than 500,000 students in 22 states, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East through 250 school partnerships.

Please contact the references above for more information on specific partnerships.

Qualifications of this Organization (licensure, trademark, etc.):

EdisonLearning, Inc. (known then as Edison Schools) was incorporated in the State of Delaware on October 31, 1996. In 2008, Edison Schools changed its name to EdisonLearning. We are currently licensed by the Secretary of State to conduct business in Colorado.

Our company trademark is referenced accordingly in the following suite of effective school improvement solutions:

A World-Class Education for Every Child™Achievement by Design™Four Cornerstones™Faces of Achievement™Working together for student success™

ACCREDITATION

EdisonLearning has received provisional accreditation from the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and we are in the process for obtaining full accreditation. Our eCourses are approved by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as meeting the requirements for establishing the initial-eligibility certification status for high school student-athletes who wish to compete in college. EdisonLearning is also seeking accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

HOLISTIC FIVE STRAND DESIGN

EdisonLearning school improvement partnerships are centered around our holistic school improvement framework – the Five Strand Design - which is intentional in its aim to raise student achievement and school performance. The design and its application, coupled with the highly experienced EdisonLearning Advisor Team, provides flexibility and ensures responsiveness to each individual school‘s particular circumstances. EdisonLearning‘s design is made up of five interrelated strands:

Leadership Learning Environment Pedagogy and Curriculum Assessment for Learning Student and Family Support

Each strand is interlinked with the others in a delivery sequence that introduces concepts, structures, and resources in a coherent and manageable way. All Five Strands of the design are focused on raising and maintaining student achievement, and although the strands have their own content, training, and support, each is integrally linked to all others so that a holistic approach is consistently maintained.

Our Five Strand design is well-aligned with the findings from the landmark study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) recently highlighted in Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons for Chicago (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu & Easton, 2010). Using CCSR’s longitudinal data archive of over twenty years of data from the Chicago Public Schools, a hypothesized framework of key essential supports needed for urban school improvement was tested. This framework was the basis of a detailed retrospective analysis of why students in 100 public elementary schools in Chicago were able to improve substantially in reading and math over a 7-year period and students in another 100 schools were not.

When working together, the five essential supports identified proved to be critical in driving student success. In fact, data showed that “schools that measured strong in all five supports were at least 10 times more likely than schools with just one or two strengths to achieve substantial gains in reading and math. Moreover, a sustained weakness in just one of these areas undermined virtually all attempts at improving student learning.” This study strongly underscores the importance of our holistic approach to achieve the most sustainable improvements in schools.

Qualifications of Instructors/ Staff that Provide Services:

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT SOLUTIONS STAFF

Research along with our experience in school turnaround demonstrates the singularly important role of strong leadership in driving school and district improvement. For this reason, Leadership is the pivotal element of EdisonLearning’s Five Strand framework, which serves as the foundation for all of our School Management and Achievement Solutions. Of all strands in our Five Strand Design, Leadership permeates all strands in that strong leaders must be strong in every strand.

Our leadership development model is based on the best-regarded, and highest quality research in the field of educational leadership, combined with the practical experience we have gained from working with hundreds of schools across the globe. Many of the principals we have recruited, hired, trained and developed have proceeded to lead exemplary schools, many of which serve as model schools in their districts and have been recognized as such either by their district, their state or the federal department of education.

Designing and implementing a successful program that trains and develops leaders to work in challenged schools that are in need of turnaround requires a unique set of skills and expertise. It demands experience not only in developing principals and school leaders, but also with turning around underperforming schools. There are organizations that focus on developing school leaders, and there are a handful of organizations with real experience with turning around schools, but there are very few with experience in both areas, and none, other than EdisonLearning, that combine this experience with demonstrable results across a large network of schools.

Because of our vast experience in the area of leadership development, EdisonLearning possesses the infrastructure – the resources, systems, knowledge and skills - to support an end-to-end leadership program from recruitment to evaluation. This infrastructure is what enables us to work with partners with multiple partnership arrangements, including those partnerships in which we operate the school. Because we both recruit and develop leaders as a regular part of our everyday operations, we possess the necessary job descriptions, screening tools, contracts, mentoring programs, professional development programs that reflect best practices in leadership development. Our Human Resources department employs recruiters with experience in identifying and selecting top leadership candidates, and utilizes job fairs and grass roots efforts to identify top leadership prospects. Moreover, for over 10 years we have successfully conducted national leadership conferences – our renowned EdisonLearning Leadership Development Academy and Leadership Team Training - that brings school leaders from around the world together to share, collaborate and learn. In the nearly 20 years of work in partnering with schools and districts, we have used these systems and best practices to recruit and/or develop hundreds of school leaders.

Through our Alliance and School Management Solutions, EdisonLearning is focused entirely on improving student achievement results through the development of leadership and teacher capacity within the school. By building this site capacity, we are able to work with our school partners to ensure that our work results in student achievement gains not only in the short term, but also in the long run. At the heart of Alliance is a model of leadership development that combines leadership professional development with rigorous, and ongoing coaching support for school leaders. It is the combination of leadership best practices, effective, personalized professional development and focused, relentless coaching that has led to success in our Alliance partnerships.

As for teachers, if required, EdisonLearning’s human resource department and each partnership school Principal will actively seek highly qualified and certified teachers with experience and a proven track record of successfully working in turnaround settings. EdisonLearning will strive to find teachers who model the highest academic standards and who most effectively can support the mission of the school. Specifically, experienced teacher candidates are required to submit performance data for groups of students that they have taught. EdisonLearning recruits those teachers that have a proven track record of improving student academic achievement. For new teachers, EdisonLearning evaluates candidates' academic performance record and teacher licensing examination results. Only candidates that show high verbal aptitude are considered for teaching positions.

EdisonLearning will conduct reference checks, employment verifications and background checks (to include verification of teaching credentials for instructional staff) on all personnel to ensure legal requirements and the children’s safety are met. Each teacher will work as a team member, sharing common planning, professional development, curriculum design, and teaching responsibilities. Teachers will administer different forms of student assessments, communicate with parents and other team members about student progress, and plan for further instruction. They will be reflective about their own practice and act as a coach for their team members when necessary. Teachers will work to integrate technology into their teaching and professional activities.

All candidates will be phone-screened using standard EdisonLearning questions which were created to quickly assess “highly qualified” status and pertinent information about a candidate’s background. The candidates will also take the Haberman Star Teacher Pre-Screener. Research has shown a strong relationship between responses to items on the Star Teacher Pre-Screener and effective teaching of children from high-poverty areas. All candidates will be interviewed by a panel of interviewers including administrators, staff members and EdisonLearning human resources employees. In situations or under circumstances that warrant it, teachers may be asked to complete a demonstration lesson in the classroom to allow the interview team to see how a candidate interacts with each school’s specific population of students.

Any recruitment support for Special Education and English Language Learner ELL) staffers will also follow the procedures described above. These staffers will be recruited based on the population of students enrolled in the school with special education needs to oversee the special education program and ensure compliance. Based on the population of students needing ELL services, the appropriate number of teachers and paraprofessionals will be recruited. They will be certified to teach English as a Second Language or will be working toward that certification until completed.

In addition, EdisonLearning’s Regional School Turnaround Support Team provides guidance and counsel to the school and District leadership. EdisonLearning supports its regional support team with training and advice provided by our Education division Leaders.

School Support TeamsThe Regional General Manager oversees and coordinates the on-site support team’s efforts, serves as the primary district liaison, and is responsible for progress reporting and for client deliverables.

The Vice Presidents of Education Services (VPES) are generally former principals who have demonstrated high academic performance within challenging schools as well as the ability to motivate and develop fellow administrators and teachers. Similarly, Reading and Math Specialists have been not only highly proficient lead teachers, but have demonstrated an ability to mentor and coach other teachers. Moreover, all VPES and Reading and Math Specialists excel in the areas of leadership development, standards based education, the use of data to drive instruction and decision‐making, and student support. Team members bring additional areas of expertise to partnership school relationships based on their personal experience.

eCourses Instructors/Staff EdisonLearning eCourses are a modular, standards-aligned online curriculum complete with assessments designed to meet any instructional need, including replacing classroom instruction and providing supplemental content for students in grades 9-12.

Because we believe that students respond differently to communications, instructors have a great deal of experience and skill in utilizing a variety of communications modes to reach individuals and groups. Synchronous classroom communications tools like the interactive whiteboard tool and the virtual “campus” provide great opportunities to bring larger groups of students together to interact and share ideas or collaborate on projects. Asynchronously, teachers may communicate with students via phone, text, our closed course delivery system e-mail or even instant messenger.

Each one of these approaches is designed to ensure that teachers get as many students engaged as possible. Since some students are more vocal while others tend to prefer text, teachers come to know their students preferences and further individualize their instruction through these different modes.

New instructors receive a high-level of support both from their peers as well as the administration. In addition to the introductory training provided, each instructor is paired with a veteran instructor who serves as a mentor to that individual. Since training can only simulate potential instructional scenarios, the mentor helps fill in the gaps through regular formal and informal meetings during which the new instructor can benefit from the mentor’s real-world experience in a given subject area and address any individualized questions the new instructor may not feel comfortable asking the administration.

A wide spectrum of professional development is available to all staff members. Additionally, training may be customized to cover school-specific topics or condensed to fit necessary timeframes. EdisonLearning hosts occasional virtual informal presentations designed to help improve overall teacher effectiveness. Additionally, the school administration has direct access to EdisonLearning in the event that more focused or individualized training is required for one or more instructors. All basic training modules are recorded and available for access at any time by the instructor.

Since professional development around teacher effectiveness in a virtual setting is a primary aspect of the program’s training, relevant strategies around student communication approaches and tone are important components. Also, because online learning can be somewhat isolating, teachers receive thorough training in all of the tools in the system designed to help socialize students in the school. The training also talks about appropriate outreach activities like field trips and clubs.

At least once per year all staff receives training in understanding signs of emotional problems with students and how to report these concerns. Performance reviews are conducted individually with instructors on at least a quarterly basis. In the spring, instructors receive a year-end review.

Instructor training includes the experience of online learning from the perspective of a student. Since training is designed in a lecture/workshop format and pre-recorded modules are delivered in the same format as the student eCourses, instructors have numerous opportunities to understand the feel of a course from the perspective of a student. New instructors are particularly sensitive to this as the platform and all of the components within including communications are as new to them as they are to the students enrolling.

BRIDGESCAPE INSTRUCTORS/STAFF

Bridgescape is EdisonLearning’s dropout prevention and recovery program. Fundamental to this model is a highly-qualified and experienced staff who utilize a personalized, supportive approach that fosters student choice and quality work to help re-engage students in the educational process. A Learning Team comprised of state certified teachers, paraprofessionals, and counsellors offer more than instructional and academic guidance.

Cost:

Details for the cost of service require more information based on the specific product offerings. Please contact the individuals listed above for more information on the cost of services.

Explanation of how we are able to provide differentiated services to meet the individual needs of schools and districts.

Our unparalleled commitment to innovation is founded in our collaborative approach and exclusive array of end-to-end academic solutions for K – 12 education. Our extensive portfolio has grown in parallel with the needs of educators, backed by a product development engine powered by ongoing research, rigorous field-based evaluation and proactive business strategies.

Brick and Mortar Charter SchoolsOur Brick and Mortar Charter School Designs provides an end-to-end, top-to-bottom approach to K-12 education, one that addresses the entire learning experience and how it is delivered–from school organization and scheduling, to curriculum, to professional development, to administration. EdisonLearning works to ensure that the school we create together meets the needs of the existing community. We can help districts and independent charters determine exactly what the parameters of our engagement should be for best results. The level of back-office support, for example, can be tailored to dovetail with your own capabilities and needs. EdisonLearning can handle every aspect of school operations or can share the duties and responsibilities with you.

ACHIEVEMENT SOLUTIONS

Alliance, EdisonLearning’s School Turnaround/Improvement SolutionFor schools and districts that need dramatic improvement support but do not want to adopt the full Edison School Design, our improvement model focuses on building site-based capacity, transferring knowledge, and training staff so that academic achievement and school-based improvement can be attained within the context of school or district and the framework of both state-level accountability systems and the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

To ensure we properly understand a school or districts individual contexts, our School Turnaround/Improvement Partnerships begin with a comprehensive school Diagnostic that identifies strengths, weaknesses, resources, issues, opportunities and organizational needs. The Diagnostic assessment is done in complete collaboration with the district and school leadership to ensure a shared understanding of a school’s individual needs. With needs mutually identified, EdisonLearning’s on-site Achievement Teams work with the partnership schools to develop customized improvement plans that reflect a shared mission and vision and include clear data-driven goals and accountabilities. The EdisonLearning Achievement Team will use the data from the Diagnostic, along with other available data including high stakes assessment data, and behavior and attendance data to work with the schools in putting together an achievement plan.

EdisonLearning Learning Force EdisonLearning can help districts and schools use out-of-school time to supplement the instruction that takes place during the regular school day. Our extended education programs draw upon the strand of Pedagogy and Curriculum for supporting schools and districts to apply leading practices in planning, delivering, and monitoring high-quality, rigorous instruction that will increase teacher capacity to promote student success.

Learning Force is an academic tutoring program for Grades 3-8 designed to improve student performance in reading and math. Through this program, we have helped students across the country realize measurable achievement gains in literacy and numeracy. Aligned to state standards, the Learning Force curriculum is rigorous, engaging, and research-based. Comprised of Reading Force™ and Math Force™, it contains 90 hours of high-quality instruction with ongoing student assessment on targeted foundation skills. Complementing this sophisticated assessment, we provide calibration and reporting tools. Furthermore, teacher-guided practice using multiple-choice and constructed response monitors students’ skill acquisition and progress throughout the program. Professional development in the form of extensive initial training and ongoing support, including in-person workshops, focus on relevant teaching techniques, classroom-based coaching, and modeling that provides practical scenarios and reference material.

EdisonLearning Summer JourneySummer Journey is designed to enrich students’ learning with hands-on educational experiences that promote students’ engagement and confidence as life-long learners. Available for kindergarten through eighth grade, the Summer Journey curriculum emphasizes cooperative, project-based learning, cultivating a discovery process in which students pursue their curiosity, think critically, and take initiative in their learning.

Comprehensive and easily implemented, a school or district need only supply instructors and classrooms for the program. EdisonLearning can provide the curriculum, materials, teacher training, and student recruitment. With over 200 course offerings, the program is designed to be conducted for 24 days at 7 hours per day for 168 hours. Districts can choose which classes will best serve their student population. During morning sessions, students will choose from four core academic areas including reading, language arts, mathematics, science and/or social studies. During afternoon sessions students participate in three hands-on exploratory Journey courses with embedded academics. In addition to our Summer Journey program, EdisonLearning is also able to provide an engaging summer experience for high school students through our eCourses.

EdisonLearning eCoursesBased on highly researched methodology and unique industry experience, EdisonLearning eCourses are designed to personalize the learning experience and engage 21st century students. To achieve this, eCourses employ a rich array of multi-media features, activities and resources that address multiple learning modalities (visual, auditory and kinesthetic) and incorporate best practices of educational gaming to keep students motivated in their learning. The modular design allows instruction to be adapted to each student’s needs and interests. The ability to individualize the learning experience for students combined with features such as text-to-speech technology, also make EdisonLearning eCourses a powerful resource to provide additional learning opportunities to provide additional support for English Language Learners, specific special needs students, or struggling students. A unique daily assessment and tracking system allows immediate intervention if students fall below school-defined achievement levels. The eCourses catalog can be accessed from our website and features more than 100 core and elective courses, with a strong focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

EdisonLearning’s online solutions – eCourses and eSchoolware learning management system – can be deployed individually or in combination to provide school districts with a range of options to meet its students’ needs. When bundled as a solution, EdisonLearning’s eCourses and eSchoolware learning management system form an end-to-end enterprise online learning platform that combines a complete state-of-the-art course delivery platform and information management system with a highly engaging and academically rigorous curriculum designed to meet the individual needs of a variety of 21st century students. They can be also implemented as a stand-alone solution by a district that desires to address particular needs through an online curriculum – increasing its course offerings for students, providing flexible learning options for students, credit recovery, etc. – but does not wish to manage its own online program.

Our online solutions also address a host of resource challenges that face schools and districts - staffing reductions, lack of qualified teachers in science and math, limited electives and language options. More than simply providing students with a computer and an online course, EdisonLearning eCourses also support three critical elements that must be in place for an online program to be successful, specifically:

1) The quality of the online content and system, and the virtual instructional model2) The flexibility of the program to meet the specific implementation models and needs of the district, schools and students that are served3) The professional services and support that ensure a seamless program is in place

We pride ourselves not only on the strength and quality of our courses and our learning platform, but on the hands-on support we provide to our partners as we work together to establish a successful online program.

VIRTUAL AND ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION SOLUTIONS

For differentiated services in these areas, EdisonLearning combines its experience and core competencies in teaching and learning with a fully integrated online and Web-based technology solution. This can dramatically achieve universal student access to a genuine, individualized learning experience at the intersection of traditional schooling and online learning.

BridgescapeBridgescape is EdisonLearning’s dropout prevention and recovery program, developed to address the needs of students who have already left the school system or who are at risk of leaving, and want to earn a standard high school diploma. Students drop out of school for a variety of reasons –academic, emotional and social – that are often singular and overwhelming. Dropout prevention and recovery programs must be personalized, supportive, positive, innovative, flexible as well as rigorous and varied in curriculum. All these components are exclusively found in Bridgescape.

Founded on an alternative education solution tailored to meet the needs of prospective school districts and communities, this blended model combines eCourses with small-group teacher-led classes designed to keep students engaged. A flexible schedule and convenient facility location ensures student have the ability to focus on learning at times convenient for them.

How will we evaluate our services and support to schools and districts and its effectiveness in school/ district/ student achievement?

Under our strand of Assessment for Learning, we work with schools and districts to implement data-driven decision making structures to inform teaching and learning, set goals for individual and school achievement, and promote students’ ownership of their learning. We evaluate our services and support to schools and districts and its effectiveness in school/district/student achievement through various means.

SurveysEdisonLearning engages in a number of customer satisfaction, assessment analysis and user experience studies, including a comprehensive annual survey by the Harris Organization. EdisonLearning leverages its Education Design intellectual property across the product and services that we provide to our education partners, including our on-line education offering, which is reflected in the survey results. Our survey results show that our partnership schools’ proficiency gains exceed state gains. For example, in 2009 our partnership schools increased proficiency 9.5% and 9.8% for reading and math respectively over a 3 year period. This compares favorably to 6.5% and 6.4% average gains for states as a whole.

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT SOLUTIONSAt the end of the day, success is always measured against that the targets that the state and the customers have set for a particular partnership. This is typically defined by the state’s accountability system which is based on schools making Adequate Yearly Progress based on high stakes assessments. However, summative high-stakes assessment data only provides a partial picture of how a school is performing which is why, as an organization, we have identified a set of critical metrics that gauge the effectiveness of a school that is consistently monitored through our Dashboard process.

EdisonLearning Dashboard process is an adaptation of the Six Sigma program/process improvement model focused on reaching improvement goals and relentless monitoring of continuous progress through the use of data and observation thresholds. Dashboards serve as the primary tool for tracking progress against the schools’ achievement goals. As such, they provide regular, reliable data enabling school leaders – in consultation with the EdisonLearning support team – to make adjustments to their plans as needed. The Dashboards measure the key metrics that are critical for successfully meeting federal/state/local standards and accountability requirements as well as unique client expectations. Dashboards are updated/reviewed monthly, thereby giving the client ongoing progress monitoring information pursuant to standards and goals and providing robust information to guide ongoing improvement initiatives. The eValuate formative assessments results and progress on the program implementation milestones are part of an ongoing “Plan, Do, Review” cycle that begins with the Diagnostic process.

The Diagnostic is an extensive on-site policy, student/staff performance, and program assessment using a multi-faceted protocol embodied in our “best practices” rubric. The Diagnostic is approved by the Colorado Department of Education for use in districts and schools engaging in CDE-sponsored whole-school and program improvement.

Other data generally used for this process is attendance data for students and staff, behavior/referral information, and data gathered from conducting side-by-side school and classroom walkthroughs as well as through periodic one-on-one and small group meetings with school/district leaders.

Beyond the quantitative metrics that help monitor the functioning of a school, EdisonLearning has also identified the key features of high performing schools that are the outcomes we seek to achieve with our partnership schools by the end of the third year of a relationship. An essential component of the monthly Dashboard process is tracking our progress against these Features of an Outstanding School.

Formative AssessmentEdisonLearning eValuate is an online formative assessment system that combines monthly benchmark assessments in reading and math aligned to individual state standards* with rich and easy-to-use reporting and analysis tools. The data-driven feedback generated by eValuate helps students, teachers, principals, and other administrators understand where more focus is needed, while superior professional development and on-site support help teachers and administrators analyze and use achievement data to tailor instruction and intervention to the diverse needs of their students. eValuate is the product of 15 years of experience designing formative assessments—including ten years of experience developing online assessments—and is supported by a well-documented research base. Unlike other assessment systems, EdisonLearning eValuate was created to support our work in partnership schools and districts in which we are accountable for student achievement, improvement, and/or turnaround. As such, eValuate provides the data that are most important in driving student achievement:

Frequency of Data: The eValuate assessment system provides monthly data on student progress to ensure that teachers and administrators are able to be more responsive to identified deficiencies than they would be with less frequent (e.g., quarterly or bi-annual) assessments.

Timely Student Information: The system‘s automated scoring ensures that teachers and students receive data as soon as students complete their assessments and do not have to wait for manual or machine-based scoring.

Relevant Data: Like other formative assessments, the eValuate assessment items are aligned to state standards. However, we have taken our alignment one step further to ensure that the assessments also mirror the way states assess students on their high-stakes tests. This ensures that the assessments are not only aligned to state standards but also measure progress in the way that the state believes is the most relevant to student achievement.

Common Assessments: The eValuate assessment system is designed to provide pre-designed common assessments to all students in a particular grade level in that state; meaning that a 4th grade student in the state of Pennsylvania will take the same math assessment in a given month as every other 4th grade student in the state. This ensures the reliability of the data and allows for school and district level analysis that would not be possible with teacher-created assessment systems.

The Power of Prediction: For the reasons above—the frequency and timeliness of the data, its relevance, and the fact that the system provides common assessments—eValuate is highly reliable in its ability to predict student performance on high stakes assessments. Based on analysis of student performance over time, the eValuate assessment system predicts student performance on state high stakes assessments with a 95% level of confidence.

eCourses An online program using cutting-edge technology is only as good as the quality of its content. EdisonLearning is committed to providing students with the highest quality, most innovative curriculum on the market. To ensure that it can meet this goal, EdisonLearning has partnered with Dr. Paul Kim, Assistant Dean and Chief Technology Officer at the Stanford University School of Education. Dr. Kim, a prominent leader in the online learning community, thoroughly reviews and tests the courses for quality, usability, and effectiveness, and conducts ongoing research in coordination with EdisonLearning. In addition, the EdisonLearning curriculum development team also evaluates our course compliance with new or emerging changes to educational standards as a matter of practice. The built in review process ensures that our curriculum is as up-to-date as possible.

VIRTUAL AND ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION SOLUTIONS

BridgescapeThe Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, Fourth Edition (SDRT 4), and the Stanford Diagnostic Math Test, Fourth Edition (SDMT 4), diagnostic assessments of the essential components of reading and math are administered in order to determine students' strengths and needs. These assessments include detailed coverage of reading and math skills, including many easy questions, so teachers can better assess students struggling and plan intervention as appropriate. Students will take these assessments annually to measure growth and progress.

Sample of services offered for a school or district:

Under 500 Students:

One of our advantages is our ability to implement solutions and partnerships to scale, meaning we can work with schools that have under 500 students to those with over 1000 students, as you can see from the following samples.

Provost Academy Colorado Backed by EdisonLearning, Provost Academy Colorado is an online public high school serving students statewide in grades 9 through 12. In 2010, 369 students enrolled. Provost Academy is uniquely designed to address student needs on an individual basis. Its mission is to offer a world class online education to high school students. By using the most current technologies, customized curriculum, and a distinctive focus on science and mathematics as a gateway to overall student success, Provost Academy individualizes the learning experience for its students and leaves them uniquely prepared for the 21st century careers and post-secondary education.

500-1000 Students:

Targeted District Improvement Partnership (TDIP) TDIP is a series of collaborations between CDE and 11 of the lowest-performing districts in the state. Huerfano and Aguilar School Districts in Colorado have just completed Year 1 of TDIP with EdisonLearning and we are currently discussing Year 2 needs. Huerfano has approximately 650 kids and Aguilar has about 85 kids in the whole district. In our planning guides for Year 1 for both districts, we worked with them to complete action steps in the following task areas: mission and vision, roles and responsibilities, effective use of and interpretation of assessment tools, curriculum alignment and instructional delivery, accountability measures and tools, and data driven professional development plan. TDIP uses our Alliance model and is a 3 year project with contracts renewed each year. TDIP is a partnership to improve our district’s student achievement. Through our partnership with Huerfano School District, came funding to help the school achieve its goals, improve quality of education, and systematize the district as a whole.

1000+ Students:

Learning Force Pilot Project This is a 3-year project just finishing in the southeast area of Colorado and in Year 3 in the northeast area of Colorado. This project reaches a large number of districts and schools with up to 1000 students in the southeast Colorado area which just finished up and up to 1000 students in the northeast area of Colorado. There is a wide range of districts participating in this project with district student populations from 85 to 1200. Participants use the Math Force products, receive classroom coaching, and professional development training. Based on CSAP Results from 2008 to 2009, students in the pilot program achieved one-year median growth percentile gains of 16 points on the math section, whereas students in the region that were not in the math pilot experienced a decline of 8 points. This project is headed by our regional program managers.